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The View From the Art Director's Desk – A Visually-compelling and Highly-successful Picture Book

Think you know the
story of Little Red Riding Hood? Well think again! This modern take on a
traditional tale will have readers sitting up in their seats and laughing out
loud! This month we talked to
Scholastic picture book Art Director, Strawberrie Donnelly, about why she
considers Little Red and the Very Hungry
Lion by Alex T Smith a smart, funny and highly-successful picture book.

1 - It’s instantly memorable and engaging.

The opening spread
is bold, graphic and hardworking. In two vignettes and 28 words it immediately
establishes:

- the story

which is familiar
until you get . . .

- the twist

which is unusual and
funny! This humour is reinforced by the ‘in-joke’ between the reader and the
narrator. The line “Well, that’s what he
thinks is going to happen anyway . . .” is very clever. It sets up the drama,
it speaks directly to the reader (drawing them in, making them part of the joke
before the story unfolds) and it succinctly establishes . . .

- the characters

from the spare art
and text Alex instantly conveys that Little Red is fun, feisty and bubbly – the
perfect picture book heroine – while the Lion is crafty, hungry and (sadly for
him) not as bright as Little Red!

2 – The characters are believable.

With a deftness of
touch, Alex creates characters that are immediate and engaging. It’s easy to relate
to them and, importantly, to like them!

He achieves this in
a number of ways:

- He takes
recognizable, everyday acts and incorporates them into the story to help engage
the reader.

The moment where
Little Red dresses up the Lion is so reminiscent of a child playing dress-up
with the dog (or with their dad!). The incongruity of the Lion in the dress also
makes for a wonderful moment of humour in the art.

- He adeptly
conveys expression and emotion in just a few pen strokes.

It’s impossible not to grasp
the satisfaction displayed by Little Red, looking smug as a bug, revelling in
her ability to have thwarted such a mighty (and naughty) adversary.

And with a single
image, a single expression and moment of eye contract with the reader, Alex
instantly conveys the emotion of the put-upon Lion, who can see his chance of
dinner slipping away and is utterly powerless to do anything about it.

- He gives his
protagonists convincing voices.

There are so many
wonderful touches of personality that come through in the text. Here’s a lovely
moment from the Lion:

The Lion outlines his VERY CLEVER plan and congratulates himself with a 'Well done' at the end. What an overly confident and naughty lion he is!

The reader gets a
very strong sense that this Lion is a little too big for his boots and needs
taking down a peg or two.

And here is a great
piece of speech from Little Red:

Little Red waggled a finger.

“Well, trying to gobble up children and poorly aunties
is VERY naughty. If your tummy was rumbly, all you had to do was ask nicely for
some food.”

It’s the mimicry of the
classic parental stance which makes this moment familiar, funny and empowering
because, for once, it’s the child who gets to deliver the message!

- He takes his
characters on an emotional journey

And what’s charming and
reinforcing about this journey is that, by the end, Little Red and the Lion have
become friends. This learning process isn’t laboured, the message of manners is
subtly delivered in a fun and humorous way. And whilst they have both grown,
there are still elements of their loveable personality all the way through. The
Lion keeps his characteristic cheekiness, and Little Red her feistiness, right
till the very end!

3 – The story is perfectly paced for the best dramatic
impact.

There’s a great sense of dramatic
escalation in the text, as well as visual variety in the art, which seamlessly
combine to heighten the drama and build tension.

Alex isn’t afraid to use space to draw the reader in . . .

Here we have a resting scene, which at
first glance looks calm and peaceful, but don’t be fooled! Follow the space,
the shade, the line of the horizon and the last thing you spot is Lion’s eyes – that moment of tension is undeniable. There’s a tangible frisson before the
page turn where the reader knows that the moment of tranquility is about to be shattered.

This is a wonderful example of a successful
and compositionally complex piece of art. It’s deceptively simple, but
incredibly hard to achieve. There’s so much going on, it’s a feast for the
eyes. There are lots of mini stories in Little Red’s interactions with the
animals. There’s an abundance of characters and a wash of vivid colours. The
heat of the palette perfectly conveys the heat of the savannah and plunges you straight
into Little Red’s world.

All the elements involved on this spread gel
to form one cohesive scene with a strong visual flow that pulls the reader across
the plain and onto the next page.

And he is a
master at deploying visual shocks at
key moments in the text . . .

As the tension and drama builds, Alex
utilises some clever visual devices to bring the action to a crescendo. He
studied theatre and set design so brings this sense of visual drama to his art.
He has a brilliant understanding of knowing which moments to capture and
celebrate and does so in innovative and interesting ways.

Page rotations are a great way to build drama. Showing the
perspective from inside the Lion's mouth looking out is very clever.

And, finally, he
successfully marries art and text to maximize the action and escalate
silliness.

There’s a wonderful
sequence in the story where the Lion is increasingly upstaged and outwitted by
Little Red as she styles his hair, brushes his teeth and puts him in a fabulous
dress! The art perfectly mirrors this in a series of vignettes of increasing
silliness.

In conclusion, why is Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion such a satisfying and
successful read?

Firstly, it’s a
widely varied and accomplished picture book both in terms of the art and the writing. It
takes all the key building blocks of good picture book technique (a strong
story, great voice, believable characters) and elevates these by employing an
innovative story twist, unique settings, quirky turns of phrase and
striking visual devices to make a thoroughly enjoyable, read-again picture book.

Credits: Text and illustration copyright 2015 Alex T. Smith Design by Rebecca EssilifieWith thanks to Alex T. Smith for letting us feature his book, and Strawberrie Donnelly for her time.

Natascha Biebow is
an experienced editor, mentor and coach, who loves working with authors
and illustrators at all levels to help them to shape their stories. www.blueelephantstoryshaping.com

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